Device for differentially heating a plastic film



y 1 w. F. FLANAGAN 2,560,855

' DEVICE FOR DIFFERENTIALLY HEATING A PLASTIC FILM,

Original Filed April 12-, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR WILLIAM F. FLANAGAN ATTORNEYS July 17, 1951 w. F. FLANAGAN DEVICE FOR DIFFERENTIALLY HEATING A PLASTIC FILM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed April 12, 1947 INVENTOR WlI-LIAM F. FLANAGAN imam- ATTO R N EYS Patented July 1 7, 195 1 DEVICE FOR DIFFERENTIALLY. HEATING A PLASTIC FILM William F. Flanagan, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to New Wrinkle, Inc., Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Original application April '12, 1947, Serial No.

741,098. Divided and this application August I 20, 1948, Serial No. 45,352

This invention relates to apparatus for producing a plastic film having a pattern thereon.

It is an object of this invention to provide apparatus to produce a film having a wrinkle-tex-- tured :pattern which has an' extremely pleasing appearance.

It is anotherobject of this invention to provide apparatus to produce a film having a wrinkletextured pattern and a smooth background.

It-is an important object of this invention to provide a device for heating localized areas of a thermoplastic resin film while in a fluid condition.

These and other objects are accomplished by selectively drying a film forming coating whereby the areas to be wrinkled only are brought into a condition which is afiectable by water, that means which wrinkle when water is applied to these areas, while the remaining areas will dry to a smooth film even when treated with water.

In my copending application, Serial No. 709,-

5 Claims.

310, filed November 12, 1946, now U. S. Patent No. 2,510,966 it is set forth that coatings consisting of plastic material that is non-wrinkling per se, may be converted into a wrinkle-textured film by applying water thereto after skin formation. This process, however, can only take place if the skin is still-soft enough to be cooled by the water, because only then are tensions created within the film and Wrinkles formed during drying. Thus, there are two stages through which a film goes while being baked in which it is not affectable by water with regard to wrinkle formation, namely the stage prior to the formation of a skin and the stage when a skin has formed, but has become so hard and cool that water does not create any tensions and consequently not any wrinkles. Therefore, by heating predetermined selected areas of a coating or film to a degree when a skin has just formed and then im-, mediately applying water before hardening of said skin, these skin covered areas will wrinkle when in contact with the water whereas the adjacent areas which may be. either heated less 2 J plished by supporting'the coating or film during heating for skin formation on a composition material combined of areas of different specific heats, for instance on a metal plate with good heat conductivity in'wl'iichfareas have been cut out so thatat these places the heat conductivity to the" film is essentially reduced or on a plate with holes cutout and then filled with a material of"different heat conductivity.- Whereas in the former case,"on account'of the holes, a second continuo'usf isupporting plate for the film is necessary, such a plate may be dispensed with in the la'tte'rbas'e. ThusQa'l; metal plate with holes arranged in the pattern desired may beused as the element'forthe production of selective heating and iajglass plate maybe put thereover as the siipport p'roper for the film. On the other hand a belt may be used consisting of a stainless steel body in whichholes have been provided and filled outwith asbestosmaterial; in this case the belt'is both-support and element for differential heating: Anotherembodiment 'for the combination sig pportdifferentialheating element is a paperwhich has'been printed with metal in the desired pattern, the printed places having a higher heat conductivity than the metal-free areas. It will be understood-that various other methods and means may be selected for accomplishingfthe same result of selective heating.

One embodiment of the'apparatus of my invention, as-it'is preferablyutilized, is as follows: A plastic coating composition, in the form of a solution," is lspread'l'in a thin film onto a glass plate or onto a plate" combined of materials of diffe entheat. conductivities as described above. Thereafter the thickness is advantageously adjusted. and made uniform by,means of a knife, a doctor blade or other like means known in the artl In the'case of a glass platebeing used, this is .then. placed onto a metal, plate in. which the pattern desired has been cut outf The entirev assembly is then subjected to infrared heat where the coating 'is heated untila skin starts to form inthe areas whichare to be wrinkled in the final film. Thereafter the plate with the film thereon is immediately immersed inwater which prefer- The differential heating necessary-for .materi- I alizing the objects of my invention may be car ried out in various ways; Broadly, itis accom-,

ably. contains: a wetting agent.v There,- the wrinkle formation proper takes place in the areas on -which the skin had immersion.

h f-tere-a few. minutes;of fimmersion, wrinkle;

just formed previous to 5 formation is completed; the film is then rinsed with water in order to remove the wetting agent from its surface. Thereafter the film is heated for the purpose of eliminating the solvent therefrom. The film is then peeled off the supporting plate preferably by immersing the plate first into a solution of trisodium phosphate. The isolated film is finally allowed to air dry whereupon it is ready for use.

As set forth above, the coa posed to infrared heat either for a time until a skin has just formed on the faster drying areas, or it may be exposed until the areas which are more slowly heated show a skin. In the-latter case, the faster heated areas have already experienced a hardening of their skin so that the film will not become affected when immersed in water, while the areas heated more slowly will be wrinkled. v

A composition which proved especially satisfactory for the invention, consisted of 150 grams vinyl chloride-acetate copolymer 100 grams butyl acetate 100 grams methyl ethyl ketone 125 grams cyclohexanone 25 grams diethylhexyl phthalate The copolymer used in this instance consisted of 87% by weight of vinyl chloride and. 13% by weight of vinyl acetate. Diethylhexyl phthalate was used as a plasticizer. The film was supported by a glass plate which again washeated on a metal plate with holes therein in regular intervals; the temperature was maintained at approximately 140 F., measured on the metal plate, for the purpose of producing the skin. The film was exposed to this temperature for a time of about 1 /2 minutes, in which case the faster drying areas were to be wrinkled. An exposure to approximately 140 F. for 4 minutes, however, caused cooling and hardening of the skin on the faster drying areas and development of a skin on the slower drying areas. The skincovered film was immersed into water with the wetting agent for approximately 3 minutes; the rinsed film was heated first to 120 'F. for'ab'out half an hour and then to 220 F. until complete removal of the solvent. The time'of immersion into the sodium phosphate solution wa approximately 15 minutes. It'is obvious that these times and. temperatures are greatly dependent upon the thickness of the-film, the fmaterials used, distance of the heating source, concentration of'the solution and other factors known to those skilled in the art. 7 Y

In the following drawings, two embodiments of my invention are diagrammatically illustrated; there Figure 1 is a perspective view of one apparatus of my invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of apparatus of my invention arranged for continuous operation;

Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a part of the apparatus shown in Figures; I I

Figure 4 is a plan view of a film obtained with the apparatus of my invention;

Figure 5 is a plan view of another film obtained with the apparatus'of my invention; and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of a modification of an apparatus of this invention.

Referring to the drawings in detail, and i'n'pa'r- I ting may be ex 4 H which functions as the element for the creation of selective heating. Through the glass plate 12 there are visible holes I3 which are arranged in said metal plate. A film M, in this case of transparent nature, is applied to said glass plate l2, and a series of infrared lamps 15 are mounted over said film [4 in the proper distance therefrom. Since the material of the plate I I has a heat conductivity which is-difierent from that of air, a different degree of heating is obtained in the film, the areas located over the metal being heated faster than those over the holes. Consequently a skin will form on the background before it'forms in the pattern. The

' film, in this state of a skin having just developed the opposite result 'will be obtained, namely the parts which in the former case developed a wrinkled texture will now remain smooth, whereas the slower heated areas will have the wrinkled surface.

Figures 2 and 3 demonstrate theap'paratus of I my invention for a continuous process operation. There, an endless support belt l6 of flexible material, for instance of paper or fabric, is concentrically arranged over an inner belt ll, said latter belt [1' beingthe element for selective heating; 1

it therefore hascut-outs arranged in the form of the pattern desired in the final film. These-two beltslfiand fl are guided over rolls [8, I9, 20,; 2|,

22, 23, 24,25, 26, 21, 21 and 28. The roll 28 is the driving roll which is driven by a motor 29:

via'a be1t30. The belt'travels in the direction indicated by the arrow. A container;3l is arranged over the belt; it contains film forming material 32 which is dispensed from a dispense spout 33 .onto'the belt IS. A knife 34 then spreads it uniformly into a film 35 of the desired thickness.

'A number of infrared lamps 36 are arranged immediately adjacent said knife; there, the film is heated untilthe skin'has developed-in the desired areas. -In view of the fact that the belt Hi travels with the 'samespeedasthe film 35, the pattern'will' beireproduced accurately in spite of the movement of the film. The heated film then enters a container 3'! holding water 38 to which a wetting'agent has preferably been added.

There, the wrinkled texture isdeveloped in the. areas which have been previously covered with a skin. Thereafter the belts with the film en'- ter a second container 39 in which the wetting agent is rinsed off by'mean's of water 40. the film is prepared for'peeling-which isdone by immersing it intoa solution of trisodium 'phosi Finally the finished "film .44 is'detached from its support by I a mechanical means (not-shown) allowed to airphate 42 contained in a vessel 4|.

Figure 5 shows afilm' which has the same pattern,1 but reversed, and which has been obtained on the same apparatus'and withvthe same method as-that used for'the film 'of Fig. 4. In this case, heating was continued until the skin on the back ground 48 washardened-so that water could not affect it"anym'ore and thus no wrinkles were formed. The pattern :partg-however, had a skin:

Next

in the early stage of formation when water was applied, and thus in this case, the circular areas 49 obtained the wrinkled texture whereas the background remained smooth.

In Figure 6 another modification is illustrated according to which the belt for supporting the film and the belt for obtaining the selective heating are combined into one single element. There, a belt 52 is used, the body of which consists of material, for instance, of a high degree of heat conductivity. Holes 53 of the pattern desired have been cut into this belt 52; in this instance, however, the holes have been filled with a material 54 of a very low heat conductivity. It will be obvious that by filling the holes with a material of different heat conductivity, an element is obtained which also causes selective heating and which at the same time may be used as the support proper for the film. A dispense spout 55 is arranged over said combination belt 52, similar to that of Figure 2 from which thermoplastic material 56 is spread immediately onto said belt 52.

It will be understood that all kinds of materials may be combined in order to cause selective heating as long as there is obtained an element of different heat conductivity in various predetermined areas. As the support for the film previous to drying other materials than metal may be used. Thus, for instance wood, ceramics, plastic material, paper, fabric and others may be used; however, it has to be seen to that the temperature under the infrared light does not come close to the temperature at which the material of the base starts to decompose or to become affected.

All thermoplastic resins were found operative with the apparatus of my invention. Thus, for example, vinyl acetate copolymers, vinyl chloride copolymers or a mixture of the two, chlorinated rubbers, styrene polymers and copolymers, cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate butyrate, cellulose acetate propionate, methyl cellulose, vinyl butyrate, polyethylene, butadiene copolymers such as butadiene acrylonitrile and butadiene styrene copolymers, methyl methacrylate, vinylidene copolymer, vinyl alcohol polymers, vinyl acetate polymers, vinyl chloride vinylidene chloride copolymer and mixtures of these substances are among those which were found satisfactory for operation with the apparatus of my invention.

As the solvents, those were preferred which have a high evaporation rate. For instance, methyl ethyl ketone, acetone, butyl acetate, cyclohexanone, xylol, toluol, toluol together with nitro parafiins, and amyl acetate were found highly satisfactory. The concentration of the resin solution depends upon the viscosity desired. Generally, a concentration of from 5 to 65 parts by weight of resin per 100 parts by weight of solution was the range found satisfactory. The viscosity preferred was approximately 36.2 centipoises at 25 C. However, this viscosity is by no means obligatory, especially not since the way of applying the coating composition also necessitates an adjustment of the concentration of the solution as will be set forth in a later paragraph.

While a resin solution consisting merely of resin and solvent is fully satisfactory, it is often advantageous and therefore desirable to add a plasticizer. All. plasticizers known in the art are suitable for this purpose. Tricresyl phosphate,

dioctyl phthalate and dibutyl phthalate are examples for suitable plasticizers.

Other auxiliary ingredients may be added to the resin solution without deviating from the concept of the invention. Thus filler materials, pigments and dyes may be incorporated into the coating solution.

The coating composition may be applied by any means known in the art. Apparatus includin means to permit knifing, rolling and spraying has been used with satisfaction. It will be obvious that for spraying, the use of a less viscous solution is advisable than is preferred for knifing or rolling.

Likewise, any wetting agents known in the art may be used with the apparatus of invention; excellent results have been obtained with the addition of 10% of sodium sulfate of 3,9-diethyltridecano1-6 to the water.

The films obtained with the apparatus described have a very pleasing appearance which can still be increased by the addition of dyes or pigments to the plastic material. The process of producing the films with the apparatus of this invention is extremely simple in view of the fact that although wrinkled and non-wrinkled textures are produced at the same time, only one composition and one step of application have to be used therefor. Once a stencil for differential heating has been made for one pattern, it can be used over and over again.

This application is a division of my copending application Serial Number 741,098, filed April 12, 1947, now Patent No. 2,536,048.

It will be understood that while there have been described herein certain specific embodiments of the invention, it is not intended thereby to have it limited to or circumscribed by the specific details given in view of the fact that this invention is susceptible to various modifications and changes which come within the spirit of this disclosure and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a device for heating localized areas of a thermoplastic resin film which is in fluid condition, a heat conducting medium between which medium and the film there is no relative movement disposed on one side of said film and also between said film and a source of heat, said medium having areas of different specific heats and conductivities said areas being of a single specific heat and conductivity in the direction of heat transfer.

2. In a device for heating localized areas of a thermoplastic resin film which is in fluid condition, a support for said fluid resin, heating means, a plate in fixed position relative to said support disposed on one side of said film and also between said film and said source of heat, said plate having perforations therein and inserts entirely filling said perforations, the specific heat and heat conductivity of the material of said plate being markedly different from those of the material of said inserts.

3. In a device for heating localized areas of a thermoplastic resin film which is in fluid condition, a support for said fluid resin, heating means, a plate in fixed position relative to said support disposed on one side of said film and .also between said film and said source of heat, said plate having spaced ports therein arranged in a predetermined pattern.

4. In a device for heating localized areas of a thermoplastic resin film which is in a fluid Essa-s58 conditioruiheating means, a continuous-plated stainless steel having perforations filledwith asbestos-plugs, said plate supporting the fluid resin 8 J-REFERENCES CITED 'f' Th e f following references are'of record in the file of-this patient:

UNITED STATES PA'IENTS Number Name Date l',742,516 Mills Jan. '7, 1930 2,200,971 Sonneborn et a1. May 14, 19.40 2,339,451 Bailey et a1. Jan. 18, 1944 Flaster Mar. 1, 1949 

